Rally Point
by Jo the Phoenix
Summary: The team is on a covert peacekeeping mission which will impact each of their lives, if they make it out of there alive, that is. Wolverine, Jubilee, Nightcrawler, Juggernaut, Iceman, Northstar. 'ships: W/J, B/JP eventually


Disclaimer: I own nothing. Seriously.

The canon that this takes place in really doesn't exist anymore. This happens around three years after Northstar was re-introduced to the team in Uncanny 414, if that canon had been allowed to continue.

There will be slight slashiness, Northstar/Iceman, that may be dealt with in more depth in a possible sequel.

-----

"Teleporter in the medbay," a computerized female voice said pleasantly over the loudspeakers in Annie Ghazikhanian's office. "Teleporter in the medbay." Annie had been uneasy since one of the teams left earlier that morning on a covert peace-keeping mission. She had felt something that she chalked up to 'nurse's intuition'. After serving her time as an emergency room nurse early in her career, those instincts were finely honed, and she was rarely wrong regarding when she should be hanging out close to the medbay. Normally, it was on nights when the moon was full and the students (and sadly, certain staff members,) seemed to get either cockier or stupider in trying out stunts or newer mutant powers. Today, the small niggling feeling of dread came upon her again, and she elected to remain close to the medbay, completing paperwork. The dread evaporated as the hated computer voice confirmed her fear, leaving only the cool-blue professionalism that cleared her sight and sharpened her wits. The nurse leapt up from her desk, scattering care report forms all over the floor, and ran into the infirmary.

Nightcrawler was standing in the 'safe space' - a six-foot square area in the north corner of the medbay that was marked off with bright yellow stencils on the cement floor for the exclusive emergency use of the several teleporters that made the Institute their home. Sulphurous purple smoke roiled out of the corner and Kurt Wagner staggered forward.

Initially, Annie thought that he had been gravely injured. However, as the smoke began to clear, thanks to the motion-sensor-activated fume hoods along the north wall, Annie could see that the demon-like man only reeled under the weight of his teammate, Northstar. Jean Paul Beaubier hung limply in Nightcrawler's arms.

As Doctor Hank McCoy bounded into the gleaming steel environment, Kurt, panting with exertion, carried Jean Paul over and set him gently onto the closest bed before collapsing himself on the bed opposite.

Annie briefly glanced at the wiry German when her son, Carter, caught her eye.

"Can I help with anything?" The seventeen year old had decided that he wanted to study medicine, and had been spending most of his free time in either the medbay or in the laboratory. He must have followed Hank in when they heard the alarm.

Annie made a split-second decision. "Stay over there. You can observe. If we need a hand, Dr. McCoy or I will _verbally_ tell you so," she snapped. Carter had a history of doing things before he was told, using his telepathic abilities to pick up on thoughts and ideas other had, usually before anyone could reason out the consequences.

As the nurse instructed her son, she and Hank began assessing their patient. When Hank asked, Nightcrawler told them that he wasn't sure what happened, but there had been a lot of gunfire -

"Jean Paul is too fast to be shot," Annie interrupted as she gently combed her fingers through his hair, checking for signs of trauma, then began to un-snap and -zip his thick leather uniform, searching for wounds. Hank's blue-furred hand looked especially large on Jean Paul's face as he placed an artificial airway into the unconscious man's throat. As he took his hand away, he grasped Jean Paul's jaw and turned his head. "Annie, look at this," he said softly.

"That can't be windburn, can it?" Annie asked, her forehead wrinkled, looking at the now bright red skin on Jean Paul's cheekbone.

"Is it _congelatio_?" Hank asked, "Frostbite? Yes, it's still cold. Carter, come heat his face, please. Gently."

As Carter moved to the head of the bed, his mother spoke. "Whatever it is, it didn't cause him to lose consciousness… I can't find any wounds. There's nothing else wrong with him, as far as I can see."

Kurt's voice cut in. "That impossible!" More quietly, he said, "I think that he-" he groped for the right words, "he saved Iceman…"

"He took a bullet for Bobby?" Carter said for him, turning it into a question for confirmation. Kurt nodded, then rose to his feet.

Hank's hands paused on the delicate ventilation apparatus, and his gaze lifted to Annie's eyes. She cringed slightly. A few years before, a newly-arrived Jean Paul had reluctantly confessed an infatuation with Bobby Drake to his new friend and confidantè Annie. The young woman had assumed that this had passed in the time they'd known each other, but with Kurt's suspicion about events in the field, apparently nothing had changed in Northstar's opinion of Bobby.

"Jean Paul, you idiot," she hissed, "Bobby can put himself back together again! You can't, you stupid man!" She raised her voice. "There are no signs of trauma on him. No broken bones, no bleeding, nothing!"

"I must go back." Kurt interrupted. "I - Bless you. God works through your hands." He said, then _bamf-_ed out of the infirmary.

"He is only unconscious," Hank said, puzzled. As Hank mused, Carter removed his hand from Jean Paul's cheek and laid it on his head. Before Annie could protest, the sandy-haired young man had delved into Jean Paul's mind. Immediately, Carter's posture changed. he slumped his shoulders as though carrying a great weight and his breathing became very shallow. "He's very weak…" Carter broke off. "Jean Paul, what's wrong?" he asked aloud. Hank and Annie waited, watching. Carter stumbled back, his hip brushing a cart loaded with surgical instruments which clattered into the wall. "He's - It's something with -" he shook his head. "I don't know. He's hungry…"

"His metabolism," Annie groaned and as she moved to go grab an IV bag, Carter dashed to get it for her. She watched Hank set a large-bore needle into Jean Paul's left forearm and she taped it down for him.

Jean Paul had, a few days before, come down with a bit of flu, and had been even more miserable to deal with than usual.

"I guess he thought he was better," Carter said, breaking into Annie's musings, handing the clear plastic bag of dextrose-five-solution to her.

"It seems strange that just being in a reclined position did not aid him," Hand said, gently placing a rolled blanket under his patient's feet while Annie hooked up the IV bag.

"Yeah," Annie said, then shrugged. Everyone was different. "Carter, can you go get something for him to eat when he wakes? Nothing really heavy; try some toast, and maybe a sports drink."

The young man ran to the cafeteria, leaving Annie and Hank with their patient. Annie began clearing up the paper and cellophane wrappings form the instruments that they'd used, and the furry blue doctor remained with Jean Paul, who was just beginning to exhibit signs of consciousness. Hank adjusted the oxygen flow and readied himself to remove the artificial airway he had placed in Northstar's mouth as soon as Jean Paul awoke.

Jean Paul was retching as Carter re-appeared with a tray of food. "Uh, is he gonna want this?" he asked cautiously.

"Yes. Hank just pulled out the oropharangeal airway."

"Oh. Of course." Carter set the green tray down on one of the beds.

"Jean Paul, what happened?" Hank asked as he eased him back down onto the bed.

Northstar groaned, wincing as Annie removed the tape from the IV on the back of his arm. "I feel like I'm hungover," he said gravelly, holding his head. "I pushed myself too hard." He offered nothing more.

"Here. Eat something," Annie said after a few moments of expectant silence, picking up the cafeteria tray and offering it to Jean Paul. Hank made an excuse and left, and Carter followed him out, presumably back to the lab. Annie watched them go. A full minute after the door hissed shut, she asked firmly, "So, what _really_ happened?"

-----

"How do you know there's a 'they'? There's nothing to suggest that there's a 'they'." Wolverine scowled.

"I don't know." Bobby Drake shrugged, embarrassed. "There _has_ to be a 'they'. _Someone's_ giving me this creepy feeling."

Logan crossed one cowboy boot over the other and leaned back against the large tree he was sitting under. He pushed the brim of his hat up with his thumb, scanning the crowd for Jubilee and Kurt.

The park that they were camped out in was two city-blocks squared and crammed with mutants and humans alike. Xavier had received word from a few sources about this rally for interracial peace. However, Logan, despite his questioning Bobby about an alleged 'they', was also feeling suspicious, and was wondering exactly who Chuck's sources were. There was an odour of stress here, and very, very faintly, the scent of gunpowder.

Kurt strode up to him on his left, looking strange in his holographic image, and crouched beside him, watching the eclectic crowd.

"What's up, Elf?"

"There are some people in the crowd that are very nervous," he said, "And I have a feeling that not all is as it seems."

"Yeah. Creepy," Bobby said soberly on Logan's right.

Wolverine glanced irritatedly over at Iceman before reluctantly nodding in agreement. He reviewed people's positions with Kurt. "Jubes is in the crowd, so's Northstar, and Cain is-"

"Waiting a few blocks away," Nightcrawler finished.

"Ya know, I was never told why he gets to cool his heels in the Blackbird and we have to sit here in the crappy-ass park with the crowd. He should be here with us, if he's gonna be an X-Man," Bobby said scornfully.

"He is a little too distinctive looking, and is wanted by authorities -" Kurt began,

"And I have an active com-link on, you little ass-wipe." Juggernaut's voice buzzed in Bobby's ear. "If you got a problem with me…" he growled.

"Yeah, I got a -"

Kurt grabbed Bobby's arm, hissing. "Stop! You look like you're yelling at the air!"

Iceman sputtered. "So?! We're in a park full of mutants and you're afraid _I_ look weird?"

"Knock it off, Popsicle. Go keep on at recon of the crowd," Logan said.

"Who do you think you are to give me orders?" Bobby glared.

Wolverine opened his mouth to retort, when Kurt cut in. "Iceman, as team leader, I'm asking you please continue your work in the crowd."

"That's telling him, 'Crawler!" Cain's voice in their ears again.

"Fuck you, asshole!" Bobby yelled at the Juggernaut. Logan pawed at his ear, pulling the com-link out and shutting it off as Bobby continued insulting Cain, but Kurt interrupted again. "Be quiet, both of you."

As Iceman stalked away, Logan looked over at Kurt with raised eyebrows. "It ain't like you to throw your weight around like that, Elf," he said, surprised. "Is there anything wrong?"

"I just don't want this team distracted too much with in-fighting. Not today." Kurt removed the com-link from his ear slowly.

"You think something's goin' down?"

"_Ja_." Kurt nodded in the affirmative, then nodded again in greeting as Jean Paul Beaubier appeared beside them. "What are your thoughts, Northstar?"

"Besides the fact that both of those cretins are getting very creative with their name-calling?" he asked casually. "I think that we are all in agreement that we will be needed here. Something will be happening."

"Thanks for this original newsflash." Logan said, frustrated. "Were you too busy giving out autographs in the crowd to do actual recon and get us some real news?"

"I didn't see you out there at all." Northstar's jaw set and he glared at Wolverine. Logan didn't care and looked disinterestedly away. When he glanced back, Northstar was long gone.

"You have a way with people, _mein freund_," Kurt said.

"Doesn't he just?" Jubilee chirped, startling him as she approached. "I think we must have an undocumented mutant ability in being able to tolerate him," she said as she plopped down on the grass beside Wolverine.

Kurt grinned, joining in the young woman's teasing. "_Ja!_ We should have Beast run some tests. Perhaps we are much more powerful than first suspected, as we seem to put up with much!"

"Awww, c'mon, Wolvie! We're just teasin' ya!" Jubilee shouted as Wolverine stood and took a few steps away from them. Kurt, suddenly serious, switched on his com link. "What is it, Logan?" But he could already hear a swelling of noise from the center of the park.

Bobby Drake walked through the crowd, fuming. It was bad enough to deal on an almost daily basis with that dipshit Havok, who constantly acted as though he was God's gift to the X-Men - and, well, like he was Cyclops' brother, taking over and everything. Bobby paused in his thinking for a moment, remembering that Alex was indeed Scott's brother. Duh. Shaking his head, he continued his inner rant. Lately, everything was bothering him. _Everyone_ was bothering him. Cain's belief that he was an X-Man! Ridiculous! The fact that he could just waltz in and automatically assume that he was a part of the team was laughable.

And Kurt! Bobby had been one of the original members of the X-Men - that Xavier should offer Nightcrawler a leadership role ahead of Bobby was insulting. Not that Bobby would have accepted leadership; that was much more responsibility than he wanted right now; but it would have been a nice gesture to extend.

Bobby continued fuming. Logan sure had a high opinion of himself, though. Giving orders. Just 'cause the guy was on, like, five teams… Bobby sneered.

Bobby didn't really mind being on this team with Jubilee, but the way she always stuck with and fawned over Wolverine was kinda irritating, and at times disturbing.

Northstar could be irritating, too, although he always seemed to treat Bobby with a quiet respect, something he dispensed with when speaking to others. Iceman thought Jean Paul was loathe to speak with him. That might be Annie Ghazikhanian's doing, spreading her assumption that he, Bobby, was a homophobe. Bobby could see Northstar now, talking with a few mutants near the park's central statue. Northstar was easily the highest-profile mutant in this rally, and because he publicly was not affiliated with the X-Men or the Institute, he had been allowed to accompany them on their covert mission.

As Bobby approached the group that was in deep discussion in the shade of the man-on-a-horse statue, his attention was grabbed by a mutant who was furry like his friend Hank, only green. That wasn't what snagged his notice, it was that the fur of this person seemed to be growing shorter as Bobby watched. Bobby didn't feel rude at watching this person's ability to apparently shrink and grow fur - he himself had been the object of many an admiring glance from other mutants simply interested in his mutation. He watched the guy's verdant fur recede from his ankles, calves and knees, leaving only dark brown skin. But when the fur was very short, and completely gone from his legs, the man jumped in what looked like surprise, then shrieked in abject horror. Bobby stood up straighter and flipped his com-link back on, to hear Northstar's voice saying that something was wrong: mutant powers were vanishing!


End file.
